A Bond Between Them
by Seronia
Summary: A bond so strong, that nothing could every break it. When Nightcrawler takes a small, abandoned girl under his wing, his life is changed in more ways than one. T for swearing and violence in later chapters.
1. Discovery

Now, I know that I said I'd load this a while ago to all of my Nighty fans, but I just haven't found the time to do so. With Porcelain Girl nearing it's end, (2-4 chapters left!), I decided to start uploading this one up too. Plus, I need to buy time for the next chapter in Porcelain Girl, have readers chew on this for a little bit.

**XXXXX**

A Bond Between Them

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters.

**XXXXX**

Chapter 1- Discovering Fate

"Papa! Where are you?" A girl cried. She was about 9 year old. It was a stormy, cold night. Rain pounded on her with no remorse. "PAPA!" She cried again. No answer. She sobbed. She was scared half to death. Alone in a huge city, she didn't recognize anyones face. They passed her without taking notice to her obvious distress.

"Would you help me?" She tugged on a mans coat. He hurried along without even glancing at her. "Help me please! I can't find my Papa!" She tried a woman, the woman just pushed her away.

"What did I do? Why is everyone being so mean?" The little girl sat against a wall, still sobbing. 'What will happen to me? Will Papa ever find me?' She wondered. 'Will I ever have ice cream again?'

--

The little girl sobbed and sobbed, calling to her father for easily an hour. The rain continued to pour.

"Please, someone help me." She called in desperation. She shivered. Someone walked in front of her. He offered her a hand. He wasn't a human.

"If you stay in the rain too long, you'll get sick." He was grinning, his German accent didn't phase her at all.

"Who are you?" The child asked.

"It doesn't matter now. But lets find your Mama and Papa." The child's gut feeling was telling her that this guy was alright. So she took his hand and he threw her into his arms.

"What is your name little one?" He asked.

"Veronica."

"It's a nice name."

"Thank you."

"Do you see your parents anywhere?"

"No." She said as if her patience was exhausted.

"Then lets keep looking."

The two continued searching for over an hour with no luck. The stranger was beginning to worry himself. Small children weren't good for small talk, and even worse for directions. The rain had lightened to a drizzle.

"I should go the police station, maybe Veronica's parents are there waiting for her." He thought.

Veronica suddenly started squirming violently. The man set her down.

"What is it?"

"I don't want to do this anymore! I don't even know your name!"

The friendly stranger looked at her with glowing, yellow eyes. "Nightcrawler, is what they called me."

"That's a silly name."

"I know." He smiled.

"What's the real one?"

"Kurt Wager."

"Who's 'they'?"

"The people that I'm trying to protect, but they're trying to kill me."

"Why do they want to kill you?"

"A bunch of misunderstandings happened."

"So, you're all alone, like me?"

Kurt didn't think of it like that. "Ja, I guess."

"Then I'll go with you! We both need to be kept company, right?"

His heartstrings were being tugged. "You, can't. It would be too dangerous."

Her face sagged. "Then what am I supposed to do?" Tears welled up in her large, beautiful blue eyes.

"I-I don't know, Veronica."

The tears overflowed. Veronica was frustrated and tired. She definitely was scared above all else.

"Brace yourself, and take my hand." She did. And in a flash, she was in front of the police station. "Go, your parents might be waiting in there." He pushed her through the door.

"Kurt!" He disappeared in an instant.

"Are you lost little girl? Are you alright?" A police woman came to behind Veronica.

"It's Veronica and no!" She bolted out of police station and into the sidewalk. She swam through the crowd, sprinting to keep away from the police lady. 'I have to find him! I have to, have to, have to!' She thought. 'He couldn't have gone very far.' She looked around, searching for Kurt. Something was telling her that he wasn't too far away. She ran to the next street and found him, walking with his shoulders hunched over.

"Kurty!" He turned around shocked, Veronica came charging to him. "I want to be with you!" Tears welled up in her eyes. "Why can't you understand that?" She clung to his leg. He bent down to her level and grabbed her shoulders.

"_I. Can't. Take. You. You'd get hurt, or maybe even die." _He said in his harshest, yet softest, German.

And without skipping a beat, "I don't know what you just said, but I want to be with you!"

"What if your parents are still looking for you? Do you want them to worry over you?"

She thought a moment. "They can have another girl named Veronica!"

His heart dropped. "It's not that simple little one, parents love you more than you will ever love them." He wiped a tear away. "Them not knowing where they lost you will shatter their heart into a million pieces. They could never get over it."

Veronica bit her lip. "You're so mean!" She swatted his hand away and started crying again.

"Hey! You!" The police officer from before showed up. "What are you doing?" The scene she saw was Kurt close to Veronica, and Veronica crying like mad.

"Dammit." Kurt mumbled.

"Don't move!" The woman pulled her gun. Kurt took Veronica's arm and 'ported about 6 blocks down.

"That was close."

"But not you're not safe yet," Angel was there with Storm and Cyclops.

"What are you doing in Chicago?" Kurt demanded.

"Looking for you, what else?" Cyclops bellowed.

"Who's the kid?" Angel asked.

"She's lost, I'm trying to find her parents." The rain stopped, and the sun shone brightly. Veronica was wiping tears away. Cyclops shot at Kurt with his laser eyes! Nightcrawler quickly grabbed Veronica's hand and scaled up the wall. Cyclops shot at him again. Kurt teleported to the top of the building.

"Are those your ex-friends?"

"Ja. Cling to me." Storm and Angel flew to the top of the building to face Kurt. Night crawler was already running with Veronica squeezing to his middle. He dropped down into an alley, darted across the street, and weaved in and out of people.

"Kurt! Please just stop and explain yourself!" Storm begged.

"You might listen, the others won't." He called from behind. He bamfed from building to building, making it hard for them to keep up. He ran on top of one building and Angel close behind him.

"Nightcrawler! Stop immediately!"

"Ja, okay!" Kurt jumped backward, and Angel flew past him! Kurt chuckled. Nightcrawler then tackled Angel, pinning his mighty wings! They started falling! Just at the right moment, Kurt let go of Angel's wings as Angel crashed into a dumpster. Kurt 'ported about three blocks away, to be greeted by a laser to the chest. Veronica shrieked!

"You okay little one?" The little girl nodded. Strangely, she was still keeping a strong grip on Kurt's middle. By now, most adults would be unconscious. Kurt then focused on finding Cyclops. It wasn't hard. Scott attempted to shoot Nightcrawler again. This time, Kurt avoided it. Kurt charged Scott, shouting.

"What-?" Nightcrawler tackled Scotts middle and started teleporting erratically from building top to building top until Scott wouldn't struggled. Kurt carefully set the unconscious Cyclops on the roof of an apartment complex. Nightcrawler then quickly darted into a church.

"We seek sanctuary." Kurt quietly said, a priest was standing at the alter.

"Then you will have it." The old man smiled. Veronica detached herself from Kurt's middle.

"Are you alright?" He asked. She nodded. Kurt placed his hand on her head and ruffled her hair a little.

"Hey! Don't mess with my hair." She quickly fixed it. Kurt had to laugh. 'I abused her little body so much with all that teleporting, she shouldn't be standing right now, let alone arguing. Maybe she's a mutant? No, the genes don't activate until she's a teenager.'

"What are we doing in here anyways?" Veronica asked, looking around the church.

"You come here when you need a safe place to stay in."

"Then why not stay here forever?"

It was a good question. "Because some people are crazy enough to tare down a peaceful place like this just to get to a person." Kurt stooped down to Vernoica's level. She cocked her head to the side.

"Why would they do that?"

"I just said silly, to get to the person they really want to get to. Come, it's not a good idea to linger near doorways." Kurt led the small child to a pew and the two sat there. It was peaceful and calm, warm and quiet. The smell of unscented candles filled the air.

"How long can we stay here?" Veronica whispered.

"Until you realize that you can't tag along with me." Veronica stomped her foot.

"I refuse to leave!"

Kurt shushed her, then sighed. "Do you realize, that what we just went through, is something you'll have to stand for the rest of your life? You and I could easily die."

"I don't care!"

"You should. Don't be so quick to throw your life away."

"But I-" She was cut off. The windows shattered! Kurt immediately covered Veronica from the shards.

"Kurt, please explain yourself for your actions." Storm was entering the church where one of the windows used to be.

"I can't!" He shouted back.

"But we want you back! All you have to do is explain why you did that!" She dropped to the ground, and held a hand out to Kurt.

"If I did, you'd all die." He bamfed behind the church, in an alleyway. "So much for sanctuary, I can't believe she did that!" Kurt angrily whispered. "You got a good hold on me?" His tone softened.

"Yes." Replied little Veronica. Kurt then made random teleportations from different areas in his memory. It was even making _him_ a little tired. "You alright Veronica?" He sounded out of breath.

"I am. Are you? Should we rest?" She didn't seem phased.

"No, I'm not completely certain that they've lost us."

Kurt couldn't make his mind up; should he stay in Chicago a little longer or get the hell out? Getting out sounded good, but where? Kurt had just arrived in the US, and always wanted to see the rest of it. So why not explore a little more? After covering a total of 10 miles, Kurt stopped on the top of the John Hancock Building, overlooking the city. Veronica let go of his middle and held his hand.

"Hey Veronica, would you like to go to California?"


	2. And It Begins

-The X-Men's point of view-

"Are you all sure that you saw a small child with Kurt when you saw him in Chicago?" The Professor asked, he had the whole team assembled. The last few attempts at trying to apprehend Kurt were largely unsuccessful. So Charles decided that everyone state what they remembered from passed encounters, if it had not already been spoken.

"We're sure." Storm, Cyclops, and Angel replied.

"Could the child be the reason why he's not listening to us?" Kitty asked. 'I miss him so much' she thought.

"Why don't we just give up? Before all this happened, Kurt had been runnin' for about 2 years." Rouge proclaimed. She was rather tired of it all, quite frankly.

"Because, we all decided on That Day, that we wouldn't rest until we finally found him and had him. No matter how long it would take." Cyclops answered. The Professor's brow was furled in thought. 'Surely I would have been able to find his location. Why is so difficult to tap into his thoughts? It's like there's a barrier between him and me. A very strong barrier.'

"He's running because he's scared of what we'll do to him." Logan pitched in, sharpening his claws.

"I say we take a more serious approach to this, trying to follow him is _not _working." Peter offered. "I have nothing against the Elf, I just think this game of cat and mouse is getting old. He has figured out when we'll strike next, no doubt."

"Might I add something?" Storm spoke.

"Of course Ororo." Professor said, gesturing for her to speak.

"I've been thinking about this for a very long time, and maybe I should have said something sooner, but I think is actually protecting _us_."

"What? Have you gone mad? Kurt tried to kill us all at one point Storm!" Scott bursted. "If he wanted to protect us, he'd say so! He'd tell us! It's unlike Kurt to keep _anything _from us!"

"I can explain. When I approached him in the church, he said that if he came to us, that we'd all die."

"Did he say anything else?"

"Not that I can remember. But this whole time, I've believed that Kurt's actions were driven by something that we didn't know about."

"Like he was _blackmailed!_ I know what you're saying Ororo!" Kitty exclaimed. "That he was forced to try and kill us all for some reason we don't know!"

"Shut up, both of you. Even if he was blackmailed, Kurt killed Jean, he can't be forgiven." Scott said in a gruff, stone cold voice.

--

-Kurt and Veronica-

Five Amazing Years Later

"Are you tired little one?" The two of them were staying in Wyoming for the time being, they had been working their way East since they left California. Kurt and Veronica knew that the X-men would be attacking soon, not sure when though, but he knew where.

She stomped her foot. "I told you! I'm not a 'little one' anymore!" Kurt laughed. She smiled. It always made her happy when she made him laugh. They had had this argument several times over, and it had turned into sort of an inside joke between the two. "I am a little tired, come to think of it." Veronica sighed.

"Good, so am I." So in mountains of Wyoming, the two searched for a place to stay. The town was nestled in the Teuton Mountains, a great place for weary skiers and hikers. The two walked around town for a little while, half looking for a place to sleep, half admiring the novelty of the little mountain town.

"That place seems nice!" Veronica pointed to a decent looking inn. They had about 100 dollars on them.

"Then lets stay there." The two weary travelers walked into the warm lobby, being greeted by stuffed trophies of various animals, and a roaring fire. Veronica admired the trophies, making special care not to touch them.

"Is she yours?" The lady behind the counter asked, she seemed like a hiker herself.

"Yup. She asked for her birthday to come here, so I took her to Wyoming. Her mother is on business." That, on several levels, was a lie. For one, Veronica's birthday was in a month, May 5.

"How old is she?"

"14. Can you believe it?"

"Really? She's rather small for her age." Veronica turned around with widened eyes. Veronica realized that they were talking about her, and she waved, with a toothy smile across her face.

"I know, but all she really likes to eat is fruit and other sweet things." Kurt was somewhat disappointed, because whenever they had the chance to have a nice hearty meal, all Veronica would order was salad or had them chop up fruit and serve it to her. Reluctantly did she ever eat meat.

"Eh,_c'est la vie!_" The woman said with a smile. Kurt chuckled.

"I guess, everyone has there preferences."

"Who killed the wolf?" Veronica asked, pointed to a grey wolf.

"My dad." The lady said. "Quite the hunter, if you can tell."

"I feel sorry for him." Veronica said, turning to a huge pair of antlers.

"Why's that?"

"He must not like people very much, to surround himself with the beauty and isolation of nature."

The woman looked surprised. "That's an interesting way to look at it. I suppose my dad never really like a lot of company when he went hunting. He wouldn't even take the hunting dog we got him for his birthday with him."

"I would really suggest taking the wolf out of the Lobby collection, they're endangered and some ranger might notice it." Veronica smiled. The lady turned to Kurt and handed him the key.

"I have to get to the library, ya know, to make sure dad didn't kill any other endangered species."

Kurt laughed. "C'mon. Let's go upstairs." Kurt motioned for Veronica to follow. They were in a corner room.

"Is this it?" Veronica asked. Nightcralwer nodded. When they stepped inside, it was a cozy little room. A single small window offered a decent view of the outside. There was also a small fireplace. It wasn't burning. There were two small beds too.

"It's like everything is shrunk, the beds are small, so is the fireplace and window." Veronica observed.

"Something wrong with that?"

"Nope, not at all."

"Do you want the fire going-"

Veronica started the fire already. "I can do it myself!" She smiled. Kurt shook his head with a grin on his face.

"You could ask for my help sometimes, you're not a liability you know."

"I know, I'm just thinking that if I start to learn how to do stuff now, I won't have to learn it later." Kurt nodded.

"True." Her stomach grumbled. Veronica blushed.

"I guess I can't always rely on myself for some things, huh?"

"That's true. What do you want for dinner?"

"What is there?"

"Why don't we look around?"

"Sounds good." So the two of them searched around the sleepy little town for a place to eat. They looked for about an hour before stumbling upon a deli slash bakery.

"Oh! It looks good in there." Veronica pointed to the shop. They entered, and were hit by a blast of warm air and bread smell. 'I picked right! They even have bananas and oranges here.' So the two walked up to the counter, Kurt ordered a roast beef sandwich with a milk, and Veronica asked for a banana and orange.

"And she would also like a ham sandwich." Kurt placed a three fingered hand on the girl.

"That would be 15.50 please." The man said with pursed lips. Veronica had the feeling that he was uncomfortable around Kurt. The two sat a table next to a fireplace.

"Kurt, do you think I'm a mutant?" Veronica asked out of the blue. Nightcrawler was caught off guard.

"Wh-What?"

"Do you think I'm a mutant?"

"I think you might be. Remember when you were younger? I teleported all around Chicago and you didn't complain once. Just one trip made Bruno throw up his lunch. Plus, you have that energy perception thing, isn't that a mutation?" Bruno was someone Kurt had saved from a motorcycle gang in California. "Why do you ask?"

"Because, I sometimes know how people feel about other people, or where people are in the first place. Like when I ran away from the police station, I could actually feel that you were a few blocks away. But I've read that a lot of humans can feel the same thing."

"But to your extent? You're pin-point accurate when it comes to feeling for my friends, and other people too."

"I suppose."

"Order 15!"

"Ah! That's us." Kurt jumped up and paid the man, and came back with dinner.

"I ordered to go, let's get to the inn."

"Good idea."

The two stepped back outside in to cold, chilly wind.

"Grab my arm." Nightcrawler said. Veronica nodded and did so. When she opened her eyes, they were back at the inn.

"That was a far jump."

"I know, I cheated." So, the two of them started on their dinner. Kurt said grace, and Veronica started on her banana. The two ate in silence until Veronica finished her banana. She reached for the orange.

"Ah ah ah! Not so fast. No orange until you've taken at least three bites of ham sandwich."

"Oh! Do I have to?" She whined.

"Ja, you eat like a bird." Veronica really never ate a lot of food. She played with it more than she ate it.

Veronica sighed. She picked the sandwich up and took a bite. Another, then another.

"Can I have my orange now?" She asked. Nightcrawler nodded. She instead, started chowing down on the sandwich instead. She stuffed the orange in her pocket.

"What was that?"

"I can feel two of them coming."

--

"Are you sure he's here? It's too cold for his liking." Bobby said to Kitty. She shrugged.

"Maybe that's why he's here, because we won't think that he'd rest here."

The two walked through the cold, mountain town. "Or maybe the child likes the cold, Kurt always was a bit of a pushover." Bobby offered.

"Maybe, but we can't verify anything until we apprehend him, or the kid." Kitty looked around, it was getting dark, and she would be looking for two cloaked figures. One dark green, the other black. At least thats what the last two were last seen in.

 "God it's cold! I really wish we'd find them quickly." Kitty shuddered.

"I just did." Iceman pointed his hands to two quickly moving shadows. He seemed to have gotten them, but they appeared on the top of a building. Their hoods fell down in the strong wind. Kurt was holding a girl's shoulder. In a flash, Nightcrawler was behind Bobby and kicked his back! Bobby turned fully into ice and created an ice stream. Kitty made her way to the girl.

'Apprehend Kurt at all costs, try to get the kid safe home too.' She thought, it almost made her cry. Either way, Shadowcat made her way to the top of the building.

Nightcrawler and Iceman were attacking each other relentlessly, Kurt was socked in the mouth, Kurt teleported behind Bobby and kicked him off of his stream. Kurt teleported in front of Bobby, grabbed him, and started teleporting spastically around the town. Bobby froze Kurt's appendages.

"Ach!" Nightcrawler grunted. He instantly let go. A shriek! "That sounded like Veronica!" Kurt bamfed to the building he had left Veronica to wait on. Kitty had Veronica pinned.

"Let go! Let go!" Something evil sparked in Veronica's eyes, only for a moment though. Shivers went down Shadowcat's spine, Kitty quickly pulled away. Veronica quickly sat up, took the orange from before out of her pocket and threw it at Kurt's head! Kurt fell to the ground, rubbing his forehead.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" Ice spikes whizzed over Kurt's head! "Ah, I see." Kurt quickly got up and dove for Kitty. Of course, he just phased right through her.

"Why? Why are you doing this Kurt?" Kitty begged.

"I have no other choice." While Kitty was thrown off guard, Nightcrawler pounced on Shadowcat and started teleporting every which way. "I'm sorry, Katschan." And that was the last thing Kitty heard before going unconscious. Kurt carefully set her on a bench nearby and assumed fighting Bobby.

"It would be easier if you just came quietly." Bobby scolded.

"I can't, you see."

"Why not?"

"For reasons you wouldn't understand." Bobby tightened his fists.

"Could you tell me one thing at least?!" Iceman shouted. "Why the hell would you join the Grey Suits and kill Jean?!"

"Kurty? Killing someone? I don't believe it." Veronica was watching from over the edge of the building.

Kurt scoffed and teleported behind Bobby, kicked him, then bamfed in front of him, and punched Iceman so hard, Bobby was knocked unconscious. Iceman then started to zip around on his own ice path, until there was one sharp turn, he went flying! CRUNCH! His head hit the side of a car.

"Oops, didn't mean for _that _to happen." Kurt crawled up the side of the building Veronica was still on, and jumped up beside her.

"You okay?"

"Oranges are just saving your life today, huh?" Veronica threw the orange behind Kurt's head, and juices sprayed everywhere! Ice spikes were spraying all over the place!

"Ja, thanks." Kurt teleported high into the air and looked at the scene below. It was simple matter of Bobby's ice streams expiring. Kurt let himself fall to Veronica, landing softly on the roof. "_Danke_."

"Oranges; lifesavers in more ways than one." The two laughed.

--

Kurt and Veronica went back to the inn, they figured that Kitty and Bobby wouldn't expect them to stick around. Plus, they hadn't even stayed one night.

"Kurt, what was that guy talking about before? About Grey Suits and killing someone?"

"It's a long story, that I don't feel like explaining it all right now." He flopped onto the bed. Veronica snuggled under her covers.

"Could I get a summary? Every long book has a summary."

Kurt looked at Veronica and sighed. (Note: Any long sentences in slants are said in a different language, most likely German.) "_Well, now that you've put it like that, about 5 years ago, we were on a mission to try and destroy a group of twisted mutants and-_"

"_What do you mean by twisted?_"

"_They're evil. Of course, they don't see themselves as evil, but I'm getting off topic now. Anyway, we were in their stronghold, and I was separated from the rest of the team. I don't know why they chose me, but they chose me to be 'sparred'. While my friends were being corralled into one giant room, I was in a separate area fighting one of the mutants_."

"_What happened next?_"

"_All of a sudden, a thick gas filled my room and I was knocked out. When I awoke, I saw my unconscious friends out of examining tables. The men in Grey Suits then told me that if I didn't want my friends killed right then and there, I had to join them._"

"_How do you know they were tricking you into joining_?"

"_Because, they showed me what they had done to their bloodstream. They had let loose tiny, remote controlled bombs. If I were to disobey the Grey Suits, they would set off the bombs_."

"_That's horrible!_"

"_You're telling me! Sheesh, just when I thought they'd let me go and deactivate the bombs, they forced me to kill one of my friends, Jean Grey. I couldn't do it, so I came up to her in private and asked her to make it look like I killed her._"

"_So that you could appease the Grey Suits, and save your friends_."

"_Thats right. But Jean neglected to tell everyone else what and why I was doing everything I was doing. If that makes sense._"

"_Yeah, it does_." Veronica got out of bed and got close to the fire. "_So why don't you tell everyone it's a big misunderstanding_?"

"_Because, you don't realize it, but there are spies watching me. They are keeping constant tabs on me. So if I tell anyone about what they did to my friends, they'd set off the bombs._"

"_Then how come you're telling me this? Just by telling me what happened, you can put them all in danger_."

"_I know for certain, that none of them are fluent in German_." Kurt smiled a wide toothy grin. They both laughed. "Okay, we've had enough excitement for today, time to sleep."

"Goodnight!" Veronica then got up, walked into the bathroom, and got ready for bed. In about 5 minutes, she was done. Veronica came out and jumped right into bed.

"Goodnight Veronica." Kurt switched the light off and fell asleep before his head hit the pillow.


	3. Awakening

**XXXXX**

A Bond Between Them

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters.

-I noticed I forgot to put a disclaimer and title on the last chapter, yeah, sorry about that.-

**XXXXX**

Chapter 3 - It Awakens

"Kurty! Wakie wakie eggs and bacy!" Veronica was on all fours, standing over Kurt.

"What? What time is it?" Kurt asked with his eyes still closed. He rolled onto his side.

"It's almost 11 silly!" Veronica said with a wide smile, moving with him.

"YOU didn't get punched in the face and get your arms half frozen." He moved onto his other side.

"Then why didn't you take a hot bath?" Veronica moved with him again.

"I was too tired to take a bath. Would you get off me?" Veronica stuck her tongue out at him, but didn't move. "Okay, if that's how it is." He started tickling her!

"Th-That tickles! That tickles! S-S-Stop it!" Veronica fell over, her face turning red. Nightcralwer started laughing too, the two of them seemed to be enjoying each other.

"S-Stop! Stop stop stop!" She choked it out, still giggling. He did. After taking a couple of huge breaths, Veronica got off of the bed and looked out of the window.

"Are they still serving food downstairs?"

"I'm not sure, probably not."

Kurt made a 'tsk' noise. "Are the two still here?"

"No, they left this morning."

"Are any more coming?" Veronica closed her eyes. "I don't think so, but there's an air about the place that _something_ is gonna come after us."

"That's not good." Veronica opened her eyes.

"While we're still safe, do you wanna look around?"

"Isn't that a little dangerous?"

"We can always fend them off, or run away." Veronica closed the curtain. "I want to do something fun, anyways."

Veronica fell onto her bed.

"Like what?" Kurt's stomach grumbled. "How about getting something to eat?"

"Sounds _great!_" The two of them carefully looked around town, Veronica's senses were perked for any slight aura of X-Men life energy. They eventually found a breakfast house, it didn't seem too crowded. So, they walked in. It was nice and toasty, the aroma of waffles and coffee wafted through the air.

"This place seems too nice, are you sure we can afford it?" Veronica asked, looking at a nearby table, filled with decent looking food.

"Is fine! We can always make it up later."

"Elfie, we only have 50 bucks left."

"Oh, c'mon! Let us spoil ourselves for once." He laughed. The two were quickly seated.

-The X-Men's Point of View-

"What? Are you sure that's what he said?" Ororo asked Kitty.

"I'm positive! Isn't it great? We don't have to kill Kurt now! Wow, that sounds so wrong." The ladies laughed.

"Do you think the others will believe us?"

"I don't know, but I'm sure the Prof will be interested." Kitty smiled. Kitty grabbed Ororo's hand and phased through a bunch of walls, until they wound up in Charles office.

"Professor! Professor!"

"I know Kitty, it's great news, but I'm afraid it's too late."

Their hearts sank. "What?" Kitty frowned.

"I sent Colossus and Logan to bring the girl and Kurt back. They're too far away, I can't reach them."

"Logan, that big oaf, he'll kill Elfie!" Kitty shouted.

"I'm sorry Kitty, the only thing we can do now is to pray they all come back in one piece."

-Kurt and Veronica-

The two were enjoying a lovely brunch of waffles, muffins, and fresh milk, when all of a sudden Veronica stood up.

"We need to leave. Two more are coming, and they're approaching fast."

"Can you make out who?"

Veronica shook her head. "I can't." Kurt sighed, he really looked forward to having a nice, quiet day. But a peaceful day without interruptions would have to wait. Kurt payed the right amount of money and left an extra tip, an apology for not paying up front.

"Just kill it off all at once, why don't ya?" Veronica half-scolded, half-teased. They both bolted out of the restaurant. Kurt took Veronica's hand and began to teleport out of the town. Once they reached the edge of town, Kurt was out of breath.

"We need to walk from here, I'm spent."

"You probably shouldn't have eaten so much, but I guess it can't be avoided." The two set off down the road, hidden by their cloaks. The wind started to pick up. It was tough going, they even considered resting by the road. That, was a bad idea though.

"Should we keep going?" Veronica asked.

"Ja, just a bit." And and after a while, they found a forest to travel through. Thankfully, traveling through a forest, away from the road, was good. The wind was severally cut back, and the cover of the trees would definitely help. "Can you still feel them?"

"Yeah, but they're not as close as they were before. About 3 miles behind us."

"Are they on foot or jet?"

"Hmm, hold on." Veronica closed her eyes and searched for the two powerful life energies. The seemed to be descended to the ground. "They're getting off just now."

"Good, that gives us a lot of space."

"Should we still keep moving?"

"Of course!" They oh so quietly, trekked through the thick evergreen forest. It was early spring, and green grass lived under their feet. Every now and then, they'd see a patch of wild flowers. The two continued at a decent pace, until Veronica stopped all of a sudden. She started to panic.

"I can't feel them! Kurty, I can't feel them anymore!"

"What do you mean? They've completely disappeared?"

"They have, they have!"

"Are they too far away for you to feel them?"

"No no no! We're not too far at all! They've disappeared completely!"

"You don't suppose they've, died, right?" Kurt approached the frantic child, trying to calm her.

"No! They're not dead. They've just completely vanished! They could come from anywhere!" She cracked her knuckles. Every one of them. This was a sure sign that something was wrong. Kurt looked at her with great concern.

"They're miles away, they can't reach us that quickly."

"How do I know for sure? I can't tell if they're not on the radar!" Kurt placed his hands behind her neck, looking at her straight in the eye.

"Veronica! Calm down!"

"I can't!" Something flashed beneath her eyes, that made her go completely cold. A touch to her skin was colder than anything Kurt had ever felt. "How can I tell if they're close or far if I can't feel them?! I need to know or else they could come from anywhere!" Her eyes turned piercing silver, what's worse, the pupils became slits. An unnatural anger emanated from her every feature. The way she was standing, her hands were clenched, eyes were sharp, even her muscles seemed to grow a tad larger. Kurt starred at Veronica for a moment, what in the world was going on? Were Veronica's X-Genes finally developing? If they were, Veronica would certainly become one angry mutant.

"Veronica-" Her eyes widened, and her features became human again. Veronica looked in bewilderment at her own hands, then looked to Kurt.

"What, did I just do?"

"I don't know but-"

"Quickly! The two of them are gaining up on us." The two started running again, Veronica still puzzled on how the two of them could have caught up so quickly, Kurt still troubled by Veronica's panic attack. 'How? How could they have done that? It's impossible! They're on foot, they can't run 3 miles in under 10 minutes.' The duo's hearts were pounding out of their chests, they swore they could hear the rustling of feet behind them. When Veronica turned around, nobody was there.

The two reached the clearing soon, it was filled with long grass and white daisies. They stopped to take a breather, and that's when the two big life energies arrived.

--

It was Logan and Peter, two of the tougher members of the team.

"How did you catch up with us so quickly?! You were easily 3 miles behind us." Veronica demanded.

"We 'borrowed' a car. Colossus-"

"I know." The large, strong Russian pounded the ground with all his might! The earth shook violently, they all fell to the ground. Peter quickly grabbed Veronica in her state of confusion, taking her to the other end of the clearing.

"What?" She was being held by the Russian. Logan lunged for Kurt!

"Elfie! Look out!" Kurt teleported behind Logan and kicked the back of his head, Logan spun around, grabbed Kurt's ankle, and slammed him to the ground! Veronica shrieked. Kurt pushed with his arms off of the ground, and went for Logan feet first. Logan dodged the attack, and attempted to swipe at Kurt's legs, but Nightcrawler bamfed out of the way just in the nick of time. Kurt pinned Logan's arms behind his back!

"Give up, I'll win." Kurt murmured into his friends ear.

"Don't count on it!" Logan grunted, pulling his arms away, just grazing Kurt in the stomach!

"Kurt!" Veronica pulled against Peter's tight grip. There wasn't much blood.

"I'm alright little one." He smiled, then the two locked in an intense battle. Wolverine swiped left, Kurt dodged it and swung right. No luck, Logan came down on Kurt's head with his raised fist!

"Ack!" Kurt grabbed his head, and kicked Logan in the jaw! "Heh, that always works." They continued to fight. Left, right, right, upper cut, it was hard to keep up with the two. Wolverine dropped to the ground and did a leg sweep from under the Elf! Kurt flew into the air, when Logan came down on his stomach with his fists clenched into fists. Ugh!

"No! Let me go!" Veronica was pulling with great force against Colossus's strong hold. Veronica's eyes turned the silver shade again, her muscles grew, and her hands into fists.

"What is this power? I can barely hold her back!" Peter told himself. Veronica's appearance continued to deteriorate to the point where her all her teeth became fangs.

Kurt teleported behind Logan again, this time, nailing him in the back. Kurt then bamfed in front of his good friend and socked him right in the face!

"Ow ow ow! It really sucks to fight a guy with metal for bones." He shook his hand. Logan charged him again!

"Graah!" Logan sliced two ways across Kurt's chest, just grazing him. "You're getting sloppy Elf."

"I noticed. I'll have to practice."

"With who? That little toy you drag around?" Logan teased, smirking.

Kurt fumed, and attempted to roundhouse kick Logan, but had to avoid sharp claws coming for his chest in the meanwhile. Kurt dropped to Logan's left side and grabbed his leg, pulling out from under Wolverine. Nightcrawler then flipped Logan onto his stomach, and pulled his leg to his head. Unfortunately for Logan, he wasn't too flexible, it REALLY hurt.

"Take it back!" Kurt yelled, pressing harder.

"You're mad because I'm right?" Kurt started to twist his friends leg completely around! Logan screamed in pain! Wolverine somehow got his claws to jab Kurt's hand. Nightcrawler cursed in German, and immediately hopped off Logan's back. Wolverine popped his leg back into place.

"**GAHA GAHA GAHA!**" Veronica was barely recognizable anymore. Her muscles had doubled in size, and her height was easily 7 inches taller. Peter was amazed himself that he could still contain the beast. FWOOM! A burst of air shot up around her! Rocks, pieces of grass and soil started to rise into the air. She screeched in immense pain, she shook her head, and said something about being 100 sure NOT to miss her mark the next time.

Logan came with drawn claws, Nightcrawler still got ready to fight, about to punch his friend.

"I hate you, Kurt." Nightcrawler stopped in shock. SHINK! Logan slashed through Kurt's chest! The deadly attack ripped through Kurt's lungs, and grazed his heart. Kurt reached out for his friend. Thump! Kurt fell to the ground, expression still in a state of shock.

"NO! YOU IDIOTS!" The air around Veronica exploded! There was an enormous flash of light, that blinded them all for a moment. But when the dust had cleared, an 8 foot monster stood before Wolverine. Her skin was bone white, her hands, feet, and back were slightly grey, Veronica seemed to even produce her own light. The whole of her eyes had became silver. The girl's hair had even been affected, it was long, composed of grass and bits of flower. Veronica resembled an angel, but despite her gentle exterior, she emanated an energy that froze Logan to his core.

"What the hell?" Logan looked behind Veronica and saw Peter, about 10 yards away, having gone through several trees. Logan stared at her, dumbfounded, how on god's green earth did a little girl hurl a grown man through fully grown trees? In a blink of an eye, BAM! He was sent flying into an evergreen! CRACK! Went his neck. Veronica jumped across the glade and grabbed Logan by the stomach, and threw him against the ground. She quickly picked him up with her foot, and tossed him into the air! She jumped up, and slammed a massive fist on his stomach. BAM! He hit the ground, very, very hard. Veronica then hurled Logan deeper into the forest. She ran beside him as he whizzed past trees and the like. A giant oak finally stopped him, and Veronica punched him over, and over again, with all her might.

"WHY? WHY DID YOU KILL HIM?! HE WAS YOUR FRIEND! HE WAS YOUR FRIEND**!**" She stopped pulverizing Logan for a moment, Wolverine was in horrible condition, splinters, everywhere, his thigh bones were bent in, somehow. As a matter of fact, most of him was in shambles. He raised his fist, claws drawn, in an attempt to defend himself. Veronica moved into his attack. Her palms were punctured through and through, it didn't seem to phase her at all. He tried again with his free hand, she did the same! Veronica leaned close into Logan's face, opened her mouth a little, growling, all of her teeth were pointed. She head-butted him! She took her hands back and swiped Logan's whole body further into the forest. She caught him before he could hit anything, his head whipped back violently. She tossed him into the clearing from before, Logan landed perfectly next to Kurt. Nightcrawler was breathing irregularly, short breath, short breath, long gasp of air, blood was trickling from his mouth.

"LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE! HE WAS YOUR FRIEND! DO YOU REALLY THINK THE HE'D WANT TO KILL ANY OF YOU?!" Veronica picked Logan up one last time, spun around three times. GUHA! She grunted, launching him over the tree tops into the unknown. Veronica stood there for a moment, listening for when he hit something. CRACK! SMASH! He fell into a tree. SPLOSH! He landed in a large body of water. Veronica turned to Kurt, and dropped to the ground in front of him. Veronica grabbed her shoulders, and began to sob. She slowly, began to take a human form. Veronica, then threw herself onto Kurt and started continued crying violently into his chest. She couldn't hear him breathing anymore. Her heart just about dropped straight through her body. "Why? This one time I can fight with you, did you have to die?" She wrapped her arm around his wound, not caring that she was getting blood all over her. Veronica hadn't noticed, but she was beaming life energy. Life energy that was left over from the major transformation. Some of the energy seeped through to Nightcrawler's wound. The wound began to close! Veronica was still crying, unaware of the healing she was causing to her savior.

"Veronica, where are your clothes?" Nightcrawler asked weakly.

"What?" Veronica stopped crying for a moment, elated that Elfie was alive. She hit his chest, not too hard though. "You idiot! Why do you always do this?"

"Do what?" He shielded his eyes.

"Make me worry so much!" Kurt took off his cloak and draped it over Veronica's shoulders.

"You shouldn't worry about me. I'm-"

"Really stupid! You still haven't realized why I came with you?" Veronica shouted, tears began to flow again. Kurt looked confused. "I came with you because you looked so _sad_ and alone! All I wanted to do was to keep you company!" Veronica tightened the cloth around her shoulders. "You were the only one who helped me, so I thought that I'd be the one to help you in what ever you did!" Her body began to tremble. "I just want to make you happy! All I need is your smile, and I know I've done at least one thing useful for you." The two stared at each other for a moment, Nightcrawler was still processing what she had just said. Kurt then wrapped his arms around the girl, and sat up. She rested her heavy head on his shoulder.

"_Thank you, so much, engel_." Kurt's voice was shaking. Peter began to stir. Nightcrawler and Veronica stood, holding hands.

"Ugg, my head." Colossus took a hand to the back of his noggin. He slowly rose to his feet, and Kurt smiled.

"Tell the rest of the team, Peter, that it took me a while to realize it, but I've found my reason to live." Kurt turned his back, "I don't plan on giving up fighting any time soon." And the two disappeared in an instant.


	4. New Encounters

**XXXXX**

A Bond Between Them

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters.

**XXXXX**

Chapter 4 – A New Encounter

-One Month Later-

After the incident in Wyoming, the X-Men have been more persistent in apprehending their old friend. The two escapees had almost no time to stop and take a breather, and finding something that would stretch to Veronica's body was top priority. In the mean time, Veronica wore Kurt's cloak and cheap clothing from the Salvation Army.

"Are you cold Engel?" (Note: "Engel" is "Angel" in German. Not much of a translation needed, I guess.)

"Nope!" Veronica smiled widely. The duo decided to run over to Europe to visit a very special person. She could fashion a suit that could stretch with Veronica when she formed into, whatever she formed into. The two traveled up steep hills, and down dangerous cliffs. Trudged through strong rivers, and harsh winds. Until they finally made it to their destination.

"A circus?"

"Ah, not just _any _circus, _my _circus." He cocked his head to the side. "Well, at least it was my circus. Anyways, my mother works there. She can hopefully make a suit of some kind for you to wear."

"Is your mother an acrobat?"

"No, but she can perform magic."

"Ah, I see." The two entered the tent.

"Kurt! It has been long, no?" A gruff, burly man approached Kurt. They gave each other a quick hug. "Who is the little Pea?"

"I'm not a Pea!"

"Of course not!" The man ruffled Veronica's hair. She quickly fixed it.

"She's Veronica, a girl I picked up a while ago."

"Kurt! You're back!" A woman in a sequenced suit tackled the Elf in a hug. This ritual of people nearly smothering Kurt in greetings went on for maybe half an hour. Every time, they asked about Veronica.

"How long has it been? Around 5 years?" A spindly old man asked.

"It's so good to see you again! It's been more quiet under the tent since you left Kurty!" A woman with blonde, straight hair shrieked.

"Hey! I call him Kurty!" Veronica laughed. All of a sudden, the crowd went dead silent. The sea of people slowly parted, and an older woman with greying hair dressed in Gypsy clothing appeared.

"Mother." Kurt smiled.

"It's good to see you again, Kurt." The woman held her arms out, and Kurt replied in a hug. The two stood their for a moment, under the safe, warm circus light.

"Come come, I know why you're here. And it's not to say hello." The woman took Kurt by the ear and started dragging him to her wagon.

"Ow ow ow! That hurts!" Kurt bent down and kept pace with his adoptive mother. Everyone started laughing, especially Veronica. Veronica followed the two to the outside of the tent, past a herd of elephants, and into a small circle with hay strewn about. They entered Margali's wagon, which was simply amazing how much stuff she was able to stuff in there. There were flyers, bits of newspaper articles, pictures, dried flowers, herbs, anything you can imagine. They all found seats in creaky wooden chairs.

"Will you help us? We can't afford her loosing her clothes every time she transforms."

Margali looked at her adoptive son with suspicion. She crossed her arms, and her voice was somewhat hoarse, but it gave it a sense of wisdom. "Why can't you go to your X-Men group?"

"I, got into some trouble with my friends. And a group of evil mutants." Margali didn't looked amused. "I got into a fight with Logan, lost big time, and I guess Veronica lost herself and transformed into, well, a monster." Kurt looked down and scratched the back of his head. "It was, kinda scary though. Engel didn't act like herself at all. She was, violent and ruthless. If my friend couldn't heal quickly, he would have surely died."

"Why do you call her 'engel' then? From what I hear, she acts nothing of the sorts in that form."

"Because she saved me!" He protested. "If it wasn't for her, I'd be pushing up the daisies, literally." The two looked at each other and chuckled. Margali cleared her throat, and Nightie quickly snapped back.

"Now that I know the girls predicament to a certain extent, care to elaborate, Veronica? Tell me all about the transformation."

Engel thought back to the day where she lost it. It was a memory as clear as day, "I was being retained by that Russian guy."

"Russians." Margali whispered with distaste. They all laughed.

"And I tried holding my forming back, but my body wouldn't listen. The first time, I was able to hold it back, and I ended up causing myself a lot of pain. I know call it my 'Grinding Gears' half stage. I felt like I was being ripped in half. But the second time, I didn't hold back. And I was pushed over the threshold."

"What caused you to go over?"

"Kurt here, was fatally injured."

"How did you feel?"

"I felt immensely sad, and uncontrollably violent at the same time."

"This is, somewhat troubling."

"What is?" Kurt asked, Veronica began looking around the cabin.

"I saw this earlier in my tea leaves, the child can switch between human an mutant."

"Why is that bad? That's a great thing, in fact. I wish I could do that sometimes." He led his tail over to Engel's chin, and directed it to a corner of the room where there was a bouquet of dried poppies, Veronica's favorite flowers.

Margali sighed. "Because, it makes her extremely unstable. While in her mutant form, she holds much power, and it doesn't help that she has a strong will either. That adds fuel to the fire, and an unstable mutant with that sort of physical and mental strength is never a good thing." They both looked at Veronica. Veronica smiled widely and waved. Kurt chuckled, only to be glared upon by his mother.

"So will you help us now?" Kurt quickly changed the subject. His mother nodded, and went into the back of her wagon. In a matter of minutes, she returned with a dark purple uniform. It was open in the back, and the material went halfway down her thighs. It didn't have sleeves, only two straps going over her shoulders. It was perfect.

"It will stretch with you, and it should never tare." Margali handed the garment over and sat down.

"What if spikes shoot out of my body?"

"It repairs itself. That's my personal upgrade." Margali placed her chin on her hands, and an old smile, withered from many years of use.

"And you just so happened to have it on you?" Veronica held it up to her body.

"I saw you two coming, I prepared ahead of time. Go on! Put it on." Engel stepped out side of wagon, and came back in a few minutes with it all on.

"It fits like a glove! Thank you Margali." Veronica smiled, her expression changed in an instant. She faced the door. "Someone, er, a large group of people, are coming quickly." Veronica narrowed her eyes. "Their intentions aren't of the good kind either!" The three ran out into the open. There was a commotion in the forest, about 20 men popped out from behind the foliage! They carried guns and torches, they shouted, yelled, hollered, causing as much noise as they could. Soon the whole circus family came out to see what the commotion was.

"What are you doing here?!" Margali demanded. The strange men snickered and started to attack the circus folk! They went for anyone and everyone, they seemed to be mutants. Spikes flew everywhere from both sides! Blasts of energy exploded! Veronica could feel something inside of her spark, much like last time. Only, this wasn't as fierce and violent as the last. Kurt started going at the peculiar intruders too. Veronica's eyes changed colors, and her teeth became pointed. Margali grinned.

"So, this is the power I felt before." Her old voice whispered. "It is very interesting to see what unfolds in the girl."

Veronica's muscles bulged, she charged at the group of strangers! "**GRAH!**" She grunted, grabbing two mens collars, bashed their heads together, and used their unconscious bodies to throw at the others. The new suit was working beautifully, nothing tore or split at the seems. Veronica continued to fight ferociously, but it seemed as though more and more men arrived. People of the circus seemed to fall back, more and more of them became injured. Engel looked around and took an attacker by the neck.

"**WHY ARE YOU HERE?" **She demanded. The man fainted in fear. She scowled and tossed his body aside.

"My baby! My baby is gone!" A blue haired circus woman shouted. Veronica turned her head to the woman, BANG!

Veronica had been shot in the chest.

Engel looked down at her bleeding wound, and felt the little hole. Kurt glanced over to her and his heart sunk.

"Veronica!" Kurt shouted, ignoring his own fight. The girl dropped to her knees, another bullet ripped through her shoulder! The air around her exploded, just like before! Rocks, dirt, or anything else on the ground went flying. When the dust cleared, Veronica wasn't the white entity from before. She was still around 8 feet tall, but had brown fur covering her body. Her face had grown a stocky muzzle and her ears were pointed, sticking out of the sides of her head. Her legs were much like that of a wolves, her hands were large, with pads on the bottoms of her fingers. Veronica's eyes were silver and half closed. A tail sprang from her lower back. The outfit stretched to fit her size.

"**That really hurt. If I were you**-" Veronica took a few steps forward. Unlike her previous form's voice, Veronica's voice was cool, collected, maybe even calm. "**I would apologize, very soon**." Engel stood over the man. The man with the gun dropped to the ground, and started kissing Veronica's feet. Engel scoffed, pulled back her foot, and kicked him into a tree. She looked to the sky, sniffed the air a few time, dropped to all fours, and ran into the woods!

"Engel! Where are you going?!" Kurt chased after her, with much difficulty. Veronica was going extremely fast, and even at her speed, she didn't run into any trees or any foliage. "Engel!" He shouted. "Are you listening to me?" He demanded.

Veronica didn't even glance at him. She stopped, sniffed the air. Kurt was huffing and puffing, he was growing weaker. Keeping up with the child took a lot of teleporting and extreme acrobatics skills. For a moment, Veronica's teeth chattered. Kurt cocked his head to the side.

'She only does that when she's excited, or eating ice cream.'

"**Oh! This feels so nice!**" Veronica said to herself, chattering her huge chops again. "**I feel so careless."** She set off again. Kurt decided to follow her.

"Is this a trap? Those men from before seemed, familiar." Kurt delved into his memory from the Grey Suits headquarters. They might have been passing goonies in the many, identical hallways. He shook it off, but was sure to tuck it in the back of his head.

Veronica perked her ears. She must have heard the babies cries. She picked up the pace. So did Kurt. He could hear the babies wails. Veronica heard them a lot sooner than Kurt did. Kurt stopped, he had reached the end of the forest, it opened to a glade with the baby and man in it.

"**You!**" Veronica's hair bristled on every inch of her skin. She startled growling, baring her teeth, her muscles rippled under her skin. "**Leave her be!**" Veronica's cool exterior from before was quickly deteriorating. "**Give me the baby!**"

"Oh Veronica, haven't you been taught any manners?" The man snickered. "It certainly questions your upbringing." The baby screamed. Veronica snapped her jaws, her lips pulled back in a full growl. "You certainly have come a long way since I last saw you. You were just a little baby when I last saw you."

Veronica lashed out, bounding towards the villain with her pearly whites barred. The aggressor tossed the baby into the air! Veronica changed her path and instantly leapt into the air. She caught the baby by it's clothing, carefully holding the baby with her teeth. Veronica set the child in a nearby tree and turned her attention to the man. She sniffed the air.

"**You smell foul.**"

Veronica lunged for the man, he pulled out two knives. He slashed her face, she grazed his. Veronica turned around and stared at the man. He snickered, slicing his blades together. He wiped away the blood on his face. Veronica lunged again, aiming for his stomach. She was able to pin him down, she snapped at his neck. The man held one of the blades in between her jaws and attempted to slash at her with the other one. Veronica took one of her paws and hit it away. The attacker kicked Veronica in the stomach, she flew back. Veronica growled. She lunged again, this time chomping down on the mans right leg.

"You certainly have, gotten stronger." She was biting into metal. She shook her head, whipping the mans body around. Nothing snapped. "It's too bad this form can't shatter cyborg models." He said simply. He wasn't even bleeding. Veronica took him and smashed him into the ground and put her front paws on his chest. Her exterior cooled, and became relaxed again.

"**Well, if I can't kill you, you must not be a human. So all I need to do is to find your off switch.**" Veronica continued to snap, slash, crunch at every one of his limbs. Nothing happened. "**You seem pretty calm for someone who is about to die.**" Veronica made sure the man was pinned down securely.

"I can't. Get that through your head. I can always get repairs."

"**Fine, then I'll just rip off your head. Not even cyborgs can live without a head, right?**" Veronica took his neck and ripped it off. Wires flew everywhere. Engel dropped the head far away from the body. The baby wailed. Veronica stood on her hind legs and walked to the child. She frowned. Veronica's features of a person slowly started to return. Her tail receded, her paws became full hands, she shrunk in size, her fur became skin and her face shrunk back to human features. "Aw, no more happy feeling." She took the baby from the tree. Kurt bamfed behind her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"They're coming." Veronica soothed the baby as well as she could. Nearly half the circus arrived, Engel walked to the crowd.

"Here, the baby is safe." The distressed mother came forward, her hair was still blue. She was sobbing.

"My baby! My baby! Thank you so much Veronica!" Her expression changed like she was slipping on a mask. Her hair turned red.

"You're welcome. I think she's okay." Veronica handed over the child. The baby cooed and reached out to her mothers warm cheek.

"But are you? For God's sake you were shot twice!" The burly man asked.

"I'm fine! It seems as though my wounds have healed over!" The crowd erupted into random chatter.

"That isn't normal! Even for a mutant, being shot twice should have taken her down!"

"What if she heals quickly?"

"Even then it wouldn't have taken her less than a minute to recover!"

"I wonder if they were real bullets."

"Is that new outfit Margali behind her lack of injury?"

Veronica turned to Kurt. "Um, us this our cue to leave?"

"You are correct." He whispered. Just as the two were about to make their daring escape, Kurt's mother arrived, again.

"What's this I hear about small children being shot?"

Engel gritted her teeth. "Yes, I was shot twice, once in the chest and the other in the shoulder."

"I know that! You're outfit has almost finished regenerating." Margali poked her fingers in the two, small round holes in Veronica's suit.

"Don't worry about me, I seem to be healing over."

"Describe how it felt before and during your form."

Veronica leaned into Margali, and whispered so nobody else could hear. "The pain was all washed away and replaced with euphoria as soon as I stood in that form." She smiled and looked at the crowd. "Quite an odd night for me, eh?"

--

The two travelers were invited, well, more like kidnaped and forced to have dinner with, the whole circus that night. It was loud, but all the voices seemed excited and merry. Wether it was about the sudden arrival of Kurt, or it was just how circus folk always talked. From what Veronica saw, all of these people were happy, decent people.

Dinner was delicious. For the rare occasion, Veronica enjoyed eating red meat and vegetables. They had seasoned steak, green beans and mashed potatoes. If you're wondering just _where _the circus cooks got all this food, one member of the circus could make duplicates of objects other than himself. Feeding a circus is easier that way.

"So, where have you been young man? Running away in such short notice like that." A good friend of Kurt's demanded. Veronica was sitting closely to her surrogate father, she wasn't enjoying the large crowd very much.

"I've been _really_ busy. Somehow, I've gotten into trouble with my X-Mutant Men friends."

"But you had enough time to take in a little girl?"

"I'm not little!" Veronica corrected. "I'm just vertically challenged." The other two laughed.

"We met in Chicago, and she hasn't left me since." He grinned. He then goes to say in an exaggerated, silly voice "My DEVILISH good looks made her tag along with me. No one can resist the _Nightcrawler._" He smoothed back his hair and flashed a smile from ear to ear. The two girls burst out laughing. The rest of dinner lasted for about half an hour. Then came dessert, which was vanilla ice cream. Veronica gobbled hers up faster than anyone in under the tent.

"Don't you _ever_ get brain freeze?" Kurt asked his half-adopted daughter.

"Nope!"

"Ugg, just watching you eat that so fast makes my head ache."

Veronica smiled. "I know!" The two chuckled. Veronica looked around as everyone began finishing. "Who washes all the plates?" Kurt pointed to walking mannequins. They took the plates and carried them off. "Cool!"

"We have a lady here who can turn in inanimate objects to life. It's really cool to watch her part of the show, she'll bring cars, statues, trees even the entire tent to life!" Veronica smiled.

"That's so cool! May I see her?"

"You're looking at her!" The woman sitting next to Kurt waved. She had curly brown hair and light olive skin.

"Can you make the dish run away with the spoon?" Were the first words out of Veronica's mouth. The woman laughed.

"Of course!" She touched a dish and a spoon, her hand glowed blue. The silverware jumped to life! The two got close to each other, and literally, ran away together. Veronica laughed.

"What's your name?" Veronica asked, still watching the plate and spoon run around the dinner table. Now that they had run away, they had no place to run to, so they ran around in circles bumping into each other or random things.

"Ariana."

"That's a pretty name." Engel looked up.

"Thank you!"

Kurt yawned. "Excuse me!"

"You're excused." Veronica too, yawned.

"I think it's best; we should get going." Kurt proclaimed, standing up. Ariana pulled him back down.

"No! Stay with us!" Her big brown eyes begged for him to stay.

"_Okay,_ I suppose we could stay the night."

Veronica brightened up. "Sounds good!"

"Can you feel any of them?" Kurt asked Engel quietly.

Veronica zoned out, staring at her plate. After a minute, she had an answer. "Nope. For now, it's just us."

The two, well, more like Kurt, talked to everyone for a while. It was after 12 when they finally retired to Ariana's wagon. Her assistant was sick, and was getting treatment for the night, so there was an extra bed for Kurt and Veronica to squeeze into.

"I'm sorry you two, it's a bit messy." She apologized, attempting to clean up a little. Her room was draped with rich colors, especially purple, red, blue and white. She had many little trinkets, some of them were moving around. There were dolls of every sort everywhere, dancing, having tea parties, playing school, anything. Children Books and Comics were nostalgically scattered about her room and on her bed. There was a snow globe where two ice skaters were skating together inside. From what Veronica could tell, Ariana was a true child at heart, despite her age of around 26.

"It's no problem." Veronica looked around her small room, she had personal letters written in Greek pinned on the ceiling above her bed.

"Are you Greek Ariana?"

"I am. Why do you ask?"

"I can't read that." Engel pointed to the letters. Ariana smiled.

"They're letters from my parents and fiance over in Italy. My parents moved to Italy from Greece, but don't know a thing of Italian. My fiance is Italian too, but he only knows that I'm in a traveling circus, my parents think I'm working at a law firm in England." She rolled her eyes. "What a boring life."

The three got ready for bed, by brushing their teeth and changing. Kurt and Engel squeezed onto the mattress, and Ariana just simply flopped down onto hers. After an hour, Kurt was still awake, but Veronica was asleep.

"Oi, Ariana." Nightcrawler whispered.

"Hm?" Ariana was face down.

"You asleep?"

"Not now."

Kurt chuckled. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay, sleep has avoided me lately anyways. What do you need?"

"Where is, Amanda?"

"She's in Russia right now, with business."

"Oh, okay."

"Do you miss her?" She asked, restraining a yawn.

"Ja, it's been, too long since I last saw her." Kurt sighed and curled his toes.

"Why don't you go see her?" Ariana asked.

"Well, a few reasons. One, I haven't known where she is. Two, well, I just don't know how to approach her at this point. I mean, we haven't seen each other in over 6 years."

"Stop worrying so much, I'm sure Amanda misses you too. Don't worry about it."

"Okay, thanks Ariana."

"Who's Amanda?" Veronica sat up.

"Bah!" Ariana fell out of bed! Kurt started laughing hysterically. "Both of you! Sleep now!"

--

The parting of Kurt and the circus was very lengthy and boring. The same thing said over and over, 'we'll miss you', 'visit us more often'. They were given new clothes and clean cloaks as parting gifts. Veronica soon grew annoyed, and thought up a clever plan.

"Kurt, I can feel them coming." She lied. Kurt looked down at her and smiled.

"Yeah right. Keep trying Engel." Veronica huffed.

"Oh phewy." She exasperated. It was a boring half an hour. Before they left, Margali came up to Veronica and pulled her aside.

"Now Veronica, I want you to tame that fire inside of you. Once you learn how to control it, it will become a beautiful thing."

"How will I do that?"

"You don't let your emotions take over so easily. Try focusing on forming on your own at any given time."

Veronica looked at the old woman. "Okay, I will."

-Three Days Later-

The two made it to a small city in Austria. Engel took in all the smell, sights, and sounds of that city. The air was thick with street vendor's food, it smelt like roasted nuts and crepes. The beautiful, ancient architecture of all the houses was amazingly detailed, untouched and unaltered since the days of Mozart. Even the major political buildings were unchanged, and their handy work was even more beautiful; angels, gargoyles, women, anything and everything was etched into the old stone. Music lazily wafted through the air, a violin Sonata. Veronica searched for the music, and found that someone was practicing on their balcony. The girl smiled as they passed the balcony. The violin man smiled heartily down at Veronica, and gave her a friendly nod. The cathedral bells sang a beautiful song, before chiming 9 times.

Kurt had other things on his mind. Perhaps what that Grey Suit back in Germany was just a coincidence; but how did he know Veronica? It was unlikely she was connected to them, they wouldn't have let a little girl get away from their tight grasp so easily.

"Kurt, I've been thinking-"

"What?! You? Thinking? Are you feeling alright?" He felt her forehead.

Veronica was _not_ amused. "Yes. Believe it or not, I do think."

"Okay, good. As long as it's a normal thing."

The two laughed. "What do you need to tell me?"

"Since you just can't get yourself to hide your energy, I've heard of a trick we could try out."

"Which would be?"

Engel looked up at Kurt. "I was wondering if we could link energies."


	5. Linking Up

**XXXXX**

A Bond Between Them

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters.

-Go ahead, call me a lazy bitch. But nobody was reviewing, so I thought it was rather useless to update. But then I thought of all the people who might stumble across this story later, so I guess I'm updating for the people I don't even have reading yet...-

**XXXXX**

Chapter 5 – Linking Up

Kurt gave Veronica the most surprised look he had ever given her. "What?"

"Link our energies, so they become one. You'll be able to hide yourself completely from anyone, especially the X-Men. They don't really know I exist, so they can't identify me."

"Wouldn't that put us at risk for dying faster?"

Engel shook her head. "Since I don't get sick, and I can heal rapidly, you won't be effected that much."

Kurt looked at his half adoptive daughter. "What about you?"

"What about me?" She looked up at him.

"Wouldn't you become weaker, because I'm still open to sickness and injury?"

Engel was silent. "Yeah, but it the effects on me won't be significant." She looked up, a light flashed in the distance.

"Then we should try it."

Veronica pushed Kurt into an alleyway! "Veronica!"

BOOM! Right were Kurt was standing, there was a small crater in the walkway. "It was a sniper Kurt, we're not safe here!" Engel ran into the alleyway to be greeted by a swift kick to the stomach. Kurt was overpowered by easily three Grey Suits. 'Damn, that sniper was a distraction' Engel thought, barely moving. She tried standing, but her body wouldn't move. She was hopeless, and helpless, to the sounds of a struggling Kurt. Veronica released her power, and let her energy run loose. She felt rejuvenation in her limbs, and she snapped to her feet. The same enemy attempted to kick her, but she stopped his leg.

Veronica threw her attacker into the air, and kicked him into the side of a building on his way down. Engel then focused on helping Kurt. He was pinned with his arms behind his back. The two Grey Suits with exceptionally large energies were taking turns beating up Nightcrawler. The attackers were twins.

"**Stop it!**" Veronica shouted.

"Oh? You finally decided to get up?" One of the twins asked. They both had short brown hair, with matching black welding goggles. It was nearly impossible to tell the them apart.

"We were beginning to wonder if you got kicked too hard, but you can take more damage than that." They smirked.

Veronica lunged for the two, and they split up. Veronica veered to the right, knocking one of them off their feet. He under swept her legs, making her land flat on her back. The Grey Suit pinned her down. Kurt got out of his captors grasp and was fighting him now.

"Thats 10 good hits for me, Jonah!"

"Can you not count? You've only had 9, Johann."

"Hey! I'm the older one! I can count better!"

"You're only older by three minutes."

"I'm older non the-" POW! Veronica launched Johann into a building, leaving a crater and an unconscious brother. He fell to the ground with a loud 'thud'. BAM! Engel was kicked in the ribs. The girl quickly got to her feet, back to back with Kurt.

"How are you doing little one?" Kurt asked, panting.

"**I should be asking you the same thing.**" Engel lunged for Jonah first, missing her mark. Jonah grabbed the back of her neck, and rammed her against the wall!

"Veronica!" Kurt was distracted, then got socked in the face.

"**Bastard!**" Engel choked, struggling against Jonah's strong hold. She finally was able to uppercut his jaw, with her foot. CRACK! Went his jaw! He instantly let go of Veronica. Engel dropped down, and reached Kurt just in time. Just as Kurt's attacker was about to strike Kurt, Engel stabbed his arm with her talons.

"**What's wrong, your arm seems stuck.**" She kicked in her attackers stomach, ripping her nails out of his flesh. Engel stood there panting, but not as much as Kurt. Her features returned to normal. "Are you alright Kurt? What's wrong?" He was leaning against a wall. Veronica walked over and slung his arm over her shoulder.

"I'm okay, Veronica." He removed his arm, still breathing hard. He was pretty beat up, bleeding just about everywhere. Engel looked at him with concern.

"We need to combine energies soon, you're getting too weak."

--

The two set off, at a slow enough pace, to find a quiet, secure area. It was hard to blend in when you were bleeding and traveling with a girl. People began to stare. The two of them were too preoccupied with finding a place. They finally found a motel, it didn't seem too clean, but all they needed was a vacant room to steal. They found one, and Kurt took Veronica's hand and teleported inside. The two closed the curtains, and barricaded the door.

"Lie down and relax, and only focus on clearing your mind." Despite Engel's collected exterior, she knew Kurt would die without this fusion, and soon. Her heart was pounding, Kurt's energy was decreasing at a rate that she was not comfortable with. 'This would be easier if he could move, but I have to work with what I have.' She thought to herself. Veronica then attempted to physically connect with Kurt's energy, but it wasn't working well. She focused harder, also trying to feel her own energy, which is harder than it sounds. After 5 minutes of intense concentration, she could feel the two slowly link together. 'Yes! It's actually working.' Veronica focused harder, but Kurt wasn't returning the favor.

"Kurt! Focus harder."

"How?"

"Think only of your energy, nothing else."

"I can't! I'm not as sensitive as you are, Veronica. I'm only a teleporter."

Engel bit her lip. "I know! Please! Try! This point is critical."

Kurt relaxed his body, and tried to stay awake. He was slipping in and out of consciousness, his recent beating was one of the worst in his life. "A-Are you close, Veronica?"

"Just a minute longer." The connection was very physical at this point, certain points in Veronica's body throbbed with pain. This was the hardest, and most vulnerable, points in the connection. If anyone where to disrupt or injure either one of them, both of them would die instantly. "There! I got it." She rubbed a spot on her arm, "Ow, that hurts...A lot." Kurt's energy seemed to sky rocket; he was going to be okay. "Now, you know what this means, right?" Veronica asked, slouching. Nightcrawler got up, walked over to Veronica, took her face in his hands, and touched foreheads with her.

"Yes. But as long as we're together, that's all we really need." He smiled, and the girl he was now connected with, smiled back.

The two traveled for about three days, crossing the boarder into Hungary, into a sleepy farming village. The energy plan worked perfectly, Grey Suit attackers also dumbed down. They all they needed to know was it was going to work on the X-Men.

"So, we're broke, we have no place to stay, and we're hungry." Veronica stated.

"So it looks like odd jobs are in our future, little one."

"Ja ja, I know." She sighed. This town wasn't even half as nice as the last one, seeing as how only about 300 people lived in it. The atmosphere was ancient, life hadn't really changed since the 1800's. The people still used horse and buggy transportation, and most everything was manual.

Engel lifted her head to the clouds. "I feel that it's going to rain."

"So, what do we do-WAH!" Kurt tripped over his own feet! He caught himself with his hand, on a piece of glass nonetheless.

"Ow!" They both said in unison. Kurt was actually bleeding, while Engel just had the sharp pain in her palm. And a few seconds later, they both started laughing at the same time. Kurt got up, sucked on his palm for a while, and we moved on.

"What should we do first?" Veronica asked.

"I'm sure if we stop in the city hall or something-"

"Are you kidding? This is one sad excuse for a city."

He chuckled. "Alright, a bar then."

"I can't go in."

"Are you kidding? You're nearly legal. You're, what, 14?"

"15." She sounded annoyed.

"Oh, right, sorry about that. Still, you can drink when you're 16 here. C'mon Veronica, you're in Europe, everything is better in Europe." They laughed.

"Except for all the alcoholics running around, of course."

He looked at her with a grin. "Of course."


	6. Meeting

**XXXXX**

A Bond Between Them

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters.

**XXXXX**

Chapter 6 - Meeting

So the two stopped into the only bar in town, and Veronica stuck to Kurt like glue. Alcohol always made her nervous. Kurt asked around to see if anyone needed any help, and didn't get many good results. He did, however, get an idea of where to go and find jobs.

"_Thank you._" And they were on their way. Kurt gathered that if anyone wanted anything done, they'd go to the little convenience store in the market square. So they did exactly that. The time was noon as the clock tower chimed twelve times.

"He said that it was in the building with the red roof," They looked around. Kurt pointed his finger right in front of them. "There!" The two entered the dusty old shop. Everything you ever needed was plastered onto the walls, with a reasonably low price attached to it. The store owner had a library's worth of books, several barrels and crates full of unpacked ones. There were bridals, riding saddles, even a yoke.

"Hello!" The store owner said in a happy voice. He was old, about mid 60's. "How may I help you today?" He asked in thick accent.

"How did you know we were not from around here?" Veronica asked, slightly surprised.

He looked confused. "My English is not too good."

"_She is asking why you knew we were coming._"

"Ohh! That is what you said." He smiled and looked at Veronica. "I know everyone in the town."

"_Who is here, grandfather?"_ A cute little girl came from the back of the store. Her hair was braided in two long locks of hair, tied with ribbons at the end. She was about 6 years old, and wearing a long skirt and a floral shirt.

"_Travelers, Eva, why don't you get them some water?" _The old, weathered face smiled, patting the child's head. She nodded and ran into the back again. "Excuse me, that was Eva, my granddaughter. What do you need? I will be happy to help."

"_We were looking for some_, oh gosh, what was the word? Oh yeah! _Work, we're looking for work."_

"_I have a few jobs around the shop that need to be done, and the cow herder needs a hand down the road."_

A new face stepped into the store. A handsome man, in his late teens came up to the counter. _"Hello, Mr. Javorik, has anyone come looking for help yet?"_ The man ran his fingers through his thick, dark hair.

"_In fact, they're standing right beside you." _He pointed to Veronica and Kurt.

The man turned around, and saw Veronica and Kurt standing there like sore thumbs. The man waved his hand at Veronica.

"_She's good. The other won't do."_

Mr. Javorik smiled at Veronica. "You have a job!"

Engel and Kurt exchanged glances, Engel knowing that Kurt might not approve. There was a silent conversation between the two, until Kurt nodded his head. _"Thank you. _Veronica? Go on." He tightened his lips for a moment, but loosened up. He was apprehensive, this man wasn't too much older than Veronica.

Anyways, Veronica walked to her employer, and he offered her a hand and a grin. "My name is Lazlo." He had a thick accent.

"I'm Veronica." They shook hands. "So what will I be doing?" The two walked out the door.

"My little sister is sick, and she always, oh, what is word?"

"Feeds?"

"No, hum," he made a squeezing motion.

"Oh! She milks the cows."

"Yes! Yes, milk. My English is no good."

"That's what Mr. Javorik said."

Lazlo laughed. "He is modest. I am worse." His W's were V's, and his I's were pronounced as short sounding E's. "But my sister ill, and cannot work. The cow won't let men milk them, and we're short of mother."

"Is it just you two?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"I'm sorry."

He shook his head. They were approaching the edge of town "Is no big deal. We are close to home." He pointed to a small farm house on a grassy, green hill. Off in the distance, about 20 cows were grazing in pastures. Lazlo ran into the house, and came out with empty pails. "Here you go!" He handed them over.

"Um," Engel looked at her the new items in her hands. "How do I milk a cow?"

--

Kurt had an easy job, he cleaned by sweeping, dusting, polishing. He also took stock of everything. He counted buttons, ribbons, food items, blankets, pillows, blouses, skirts, anything. It was tedious work, there was mountains of uncounted stuff. He had some assistance from little Eva, who quickly, got bored and went outside to play. After taking stock, he washed the windows. People didn't stare as they passed by, much to Kurt's surprise. Everyone stared. He even caught Veronica staring a few times, her head was usually cocked to the side, and her eyes squinted at his face. He didn't think much of it, Veronica was an unusual child to say the least. Nonetheless, Kurt still loves her like a daughter.

He snapped back to reality when Mr. Javorik said- "You are finished, Kurt, here is your money." He handed over about 130 dollars worth of euro's.

Kurt's eye stood wide in shock. "This is too much!" He cried.

Mr. Javorik winked. "Is also Veronica's pay."

Kurt nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Mr. Javorik."

--

Veronica arrived at the shop before lunch, smelling of cow manure, fresh hay, and paprika. Asides from smelling horrible, there was a content expression spread across her face. After Kurt teased her about her aroma, he asked why she looked so happy. She replied that she had eaten the best meal she'd eaten in a very long time. Lazlo had thanked Engel by making her goulash soup, steak, and egg noodles with home made cottage cheese.

"But you know what the weirdest thing was? Nobody stared at me once, not even a double take!" Kurt exclaimed, as the two headed for the outskirts of town.

"I know!" Veronica chirped. "Lazlo's little sister is blue like you."

Kurt stopped walking for a second, flabbergasted. "What?!"

"Yeah! She was really nice too." Veronica turned around, but kept walking backwards. "She had brown eyes though, and she had all her appendages." She raised five fingers and wiggled them. "And instead of a tail, she had two little wings. They don't allow her to fly, but oddly enough, they allow her to communicate to animals."

Kurt still stood like a statue, mouth agape. "What?"

"Were you listening at all you big blue dummy?"

"I was listening! I just, never expected to even hear about anyone else who was blue, that's all." He shook his head a little, and blinked a few times. "I wish I could have met her."

"Veronica!" A small voice called from behind. "Veronica your bag!" A girl on a bike came peddling up. Kurt's heart leapt. It was her!

"Eva!" Veronica replied. "You shouldn't be straining your-"

Eva stopped, and nearly fell off her bike when her and Kurt's eyes met. And Engel could have sworn that Kurt almost burst into tears.

"Self." Veronica huffed, brushing passed the big blue statue.

"Y-You forgot, your things, at my, house." Eva replied slowly, not taking her eyes off of Nightcrawler. The twin wings on her back fluttered.

Kurt's tail twitched. "I'm Kurt."

"My name is Eva. Szervusz Kurt." The pleasant little farm girl beamed, and the circus kid smiling ear to pointy ear.

"It's nice to finally meet you." He replied, blinking a few times.

-Sorry it's short, this chapter was the one that was holding me from writing for so long.-


	7. Kidnapping or Abandoning?

**XXXXX**

A Bond Between Them

Disclaimer: I don't own the X-Men or it's characters.

-Cameo time! D-

**XXXXX**

Chapter 7 – Kidnapping or Abandoning?

The land of Russia wasn't a pleasant one. It was fast approaching autumn, which meant strong, relentless gales of savage wind, shorter days and cold scary nights, and, worst of all, old women in babushka's offering rag dolls. The two were in Moscow, Russia's capital. Kurt had reluctantly explained who and what Amanda was to Kurt. She felt sorry for him, he loved her very much, it must have been horrid separating himself from her, especially for such a long time.

The two walked the streets of Moscow, admiring the architecture and beautiful buildings, all while freezing their butts (and tail) off. A group of old women chatting walked by, then a small pack of teenagers passed them, laughing and smiling.

"Kurt, why does everyone say German is the harshest language?" The two were huddled together.

"I don't know, to tell you the truth."

"Because Russian takes the cake."

"You find it harsh?"

"Not just harsh, scary!"

Kurt laughed. "You really think that?"

"Most definitely." Veronica stopped.

"What is it?" Kurt asked.

"Let's go ice skating!" Dead ahead of them was an ice rink. Engel pulled away from her companion and headed straight for the small indoor ice rink.

"I don't know," Kurt followed after her, he scratched an itch on his leg with his tail.

"Oh, c'mon! What hurt could it do?" She begged. "I'll be warmer in there than out here."

Kurt scratched his head. "Oh, I suppose."

"Yeah! C'mon!" She ran back to Kurt, grabbed his arm (accidently grabbing his tail) and ran for the rink.

"YEOWW!" He shouted.

"What?" Veronica stopped.

"You grabbed my tail." He whined, pulling it out from her hand.

"Oh! I'm sorry." She said with a smile.

The two got inside the skating rink, rented skates with the little money they had, and got onto the rink. Right off the bat, Engel slipped and almost fell, but she regained herself quickly. Kurt was a little rusty, and needed a few laps before gaining his confidence back. He zipped right past Veronica, while she was still on her first go around.

"Would you stop showing off?" Veronica half shouted, half laughed.

"Hmm, no, I don't think I will." Kurt replied. Engel huffed, and the next time Kurt came zipping around the ring, she grabbed his arm!

"Hey!"

Engel smiled widely, enjoying the free ride. While leeching off of Kurt, Veronica practiced moving her feet like Kurt. She did the same motions as he did, getting a feel for it.

"Could you stop Kurt?"

"The easy way? Or other way?"

"What's the easy way?" BAM! He slammed into a wall. He couldn't stop laughing, but strangely enough, Engel wasn't amused.

"You are so mean! What is the OTHER way?" Kurt got going again, and stopped the correct way. Once Engel was comfortable with her ability, she let go of Nightcrawler's arm. She had it! Veronica could skate on her own, and stop as well.

"I think I finally got the hang of- UFF! Hey!" Somebody slammed into her! The two tumbled to the ground, Veronica stopped herself by falling down and all fours, she barely missed the other person with her skating blades. She looked at the person's face.

"I-I-I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to run into you!" A girl with curly blonde hair and a child like voice was on the ground next to Engel, she seemed about Veronica's age. A woman blew her whistle, signaling for the two to get out of the way of the other skaters. Engel helped the girl up, and the two began skating again.

"I'm so sorry! I'm just learning how to do this." The girl seemed rather distressed.

"I just learned how to skate also." Veronica offered a warm, pleasing smile to the girl. The girl smiled back. "What's your name?"

"Ingrid." Her lovely blue eyes blinked away tears.

"I'm Veronica. You're not from around here, are you?"

"No, we're here, visiting family." She was going slowly, so Engel went her speed. "Why are you in Russia?" She was staring at her skates.

"We're traveling the world together."

"We? Who else is with you?"

Engel hesitated, call Kurt her father? He sure acted the part, and certainly loved her like a daughter, but legally, not even close to a guardian. "My adopted father."

"That sounds nice."

"It is. Don't look at your feet so much, you'll loose sense of direction and balance." Engel advised. Ingrid looked up, keeping her eyes ahead of her.

"Where's your dad?" She asked. Nightcrawler whizzed passed them in a blue flash.

"Him, right there." Engel pointed after Kurt.

"He's funny. I saw you two skating earlier."

"Oh, yeah, he has a WARPED sense of humor sometimes." Veronica shouted loud enough for Kurt to hear. He laughed as he avoided an old lady.

"I'm sure his intentions are good. I have an uncle that is like that, he always finds something to laugh at." Ingrid almost fell again! Engel could feel it coming, and offered an arm for Ingrid to grab before she fell.

"Are you alright?"

"Mhm, thank you again." Ingrid stood upright again.

Another 20 minutes passed by, and the two girls soon became attached. They talked about music, what kinds of weather they liked or didn't liked, food they enjoyed or didn't, favorite movies, least favorite movies, just about anything really.

"My favorite movies have to be Pan's Labyrinth and Amelie. I have a few others, but those two come to mind immediately." Engel was a big fan of foreign movies. She also enjoyed Transformers, that was one of her favorite American films.

"My favorites, hmm, I really like Pirates of the Caribbean. I also like Garden State and just about any other independent film."

"You're into Pirates?"

"Yup!" Ingrid smiled widely. Engel shrugged.

"Those movies are okay."

"Okay?! Johnny Depp is a total hunk!"

"A total drunken hunk, that's what he is. The more the movies progress, the less pirate-y they become."

"Well, I can still live in my little-"

"Ingrid! C'mon! We're leaving!" A tall man with blonde hair called. He was standing just outside the rink. Ingrid looked sad, then turned to Veronica.

"Hey, I have to go. Could I have your phone number?" Engel hesitated. She never really, had a phone, or a home in the first place. She quickly came up with an excuse.

"I'm not really home all that often, so I don't really call a lot of people."

Ingrid looked disappointed more. "Oh, well, okay, but when you do get home, here is my-" ZWING! A real asshole sped in between the two, he was wearing hockey skates. He was in all grey attire.

"Hey buddy! What was that for?!" Veronica shouted. Ingrid looked at her friend.

"I'll leave the number with your-" BAM! Another real jerk off shoved right passed Ingrid! He was wearing all grey, just like the first guy. "Dad!" She saw her own father, calling her again. "Hold on!" She shouted. "Here, before anymore butt heads come after us." Ingrid took Engel's arm and wrote on it with pen. Her hand writing was neat, as far as writing on people goes. The first guy from before shoved passed Veronica at top speed, sending her to the ground.

Veronica narrowed her eyes, carefully standing up. Engel quickly moved her attention to Ingrid. "You should probably get to your dad soon, it was nice talking."

"You too, good bye." There was a certain sadness to Ingrid's tone. She quickly skated away, barely missing one of the Grey Suits. Kurt sped up to Engel and stopped.

"Should we fight in here or outside?"

"I don't really care at this point." The Grey Suits' bodies bulged and contorted. Their eyes became silver their teeth grew pointed. Veronica gasped.

"No, no! It's a coincidence!" She shouted. People on the ice panicked, and quickly began rushing out of the rink. Soon, it was only a baffled Engel, Nightcrawler, and the two Grey Suits.

"Veronica, you take the one on the left, okay?"

"Y-Yeah." Veronica let her own power loose, but didn't expend as much as the other two did. Only her eyes turned silver and her teeth became pointed. The two parties attacked each other. Veronica locked in a heated battle with her opponent.

"**Oh, c'mon, let all of your power loose! You're our pride and joy!"**

"I'm not a monster like you are!" She slashed him across the face. Her finger nails made him bleed, but he quickly healed over. The two were awkward fighting on the ice. Engel swung left, right, then a spinning kick. The Grey Suit wasn't able to avoid her attacks, but was able to grab her ankle in her kick. BAM! She hit the ice hard, her body begged her to expend more power, but her mind fought against it. She swung her free leg and was able to knock her opponent onto the ice. He was first to grab her ankle, digging his fingers into her flesh! Veronica screamed, and kicked her blade across the man's face. She hopped up clumsily, waiting for the other Grey Suit to get up. He didn't.

"That was easy." She said, returning to normal. Kurt skated up behind her, half limping.

Kurt leaned lightly against Veronica's shoulder. "That was, weird. All of a sudden he just, stopped fighting and dropped dead." Engel could feel Kurt's uneasy energy; he was just as suspicious as she was about the two Grey Suits.

"Kurt, what do you think, this means?"

"What what means?" Kurt teleported to the main floor of the ice rink, grabbing their shoes and other belongings.

"Don't act so oblivious! Those two Grey Suits could form into the same thing I form into!" Veronica pouted, throwing off her skates and putting her boots on.

Kurt was silent. "I think, I have to do some research, Veronica. I don't want to say for sure that you're connected to the Grey Suits, but there is a high chance that you are." Engel scoffed, how? How was Veronica connected to the Grey Suits?

-Two Days Later-

"We should have stayed in M-Moscow." Veronica was shivering. The two had decided to split town and find cover. There was no doubt that the police would be looking for them.

As of right now, they were walking through a thick evergreen forest. The temperature was easily in the 10's, without wind chill.

"But then t-the police w-would still be looking for us." Engel and Kurt were stuck together for what little warmth they could offer.

"I feel so numb." Veronica shivered. Though Kurt didn't express it, he was greatly distressed by Engel's discomfort.

"Can you feel them?"

"I c-can, and I can feel about 10 Grey Suits watching us. They're m-making sure that w-we know they're there." Veronica bit her lip. "The next place we run to, is gonna be Tahiti!" Veronica shouted. Kurt chuckled. Engel turned her head to the East. Kurt could see the Blackbird fast approaching.

-In the Blackbird-

"Can you see them Kitty?" Rogue asked.

"I can," Kitty picked up the speed, bee lining for the two renegades.

"So, the plan is to just open the door? No fighting or anything?"

"No, we've decided that fighting might just make it worse."

"What makes ya' think that he'll just walk onto the jet?"

Kitty sighed. "I don't know, but it's freezing cold out there. And if he cared for the girl, he'd leave her with us for a while."

-Back to Veronica and Kurt.-

"They're coming, I don't think we can make it away in time."

"Good."

"What?" The jet landed in front of them at that very moment. The door from the jet opened. Kurt understood, they were expecting for him to come on. He frowned, and gritted his teeth.

He pushed her into the jet! "I'm sorry, Engel. You need to learn how to control yourself."

"No! Kurt!" The latch closed. "Open the door! Open the door this instant!"

"Where's Kurt?" Kitty hopped up, expecting to see both travelers there.

"Still on the ground!" The girl pounded on the door.

Kitty morphed her head through the jet. Nobody was there. Kitty put her head back into the jet. The girl and Rogue were going at it. The girl was different, her muscles were larger for one.

"Settle down little one! We'll take you to Kurt, eventually." Rogue was trying her best not to make skin to skin with the child.

"**Let me go! Let me free!**" The girl swung punch after punch at Rogue, but Marie evaded them every time. Very quickly, Marie threw her gloves off.

"Just what _are _you?!" Rogue grabbed the girls wrist as her opponent was about to punch. The girl punched again, Rogue caught her wrist a second time. The girl screamed in pain, then gritted her pointed teeth, glaring at Marie with those piercing silver eyes.

"**Do you really think, that dumb trick, will work on me?!**" She bellowed. Rogue stood dumbfounded. Why wasn't she being hurt? How come Marie wasn't able to zap- oh wait, just kidding! Her opponent fell to the ground, knocked out cold. Rogue looked at her hands, they were red and burning hot.

"There's something, different about this girl, Kitty."


End file.
